This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-212719 filed Jul. 12, 2001, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile telephone or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and particularly to a mobile communication terminal that comprises a camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, mobile communication terminals such as mobile telephones or PDAs have come into use in increasing numbers. Among them is a mobile communication terminal comprising a camera. The mobile communication terminal has a box-shaped housing. The camera is provided at, for example, the upper part of the housing or on the back thereof. The camera incorporates a solid-state photographing element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). A still picture or a moving picture photographed by the camera is stored in a memory or transmitted to the terminal of a user who is the other party of communication. The mobile communication terminal can transmit the image data representing, for example, the user""s portrait, the surrounding scenery, brochures, pictures, catalogs and the like to the terminal of the other user who is the other party of the communication. In view of this, the mobile communication terminal is very convenient.
Generally, cameras comprises but a limited number of components and have but a limited photosensitivity, because they should not be too large and their prices should not be too high. A camera can hardly provide pictures of desired quality when it is used at night or in dark rooms.
The inventors hereof have proposed a mobile communication terminal to which an electronic flash unit (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cflash unitxe2x80x9d) can be coupled, as is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-179007. More precisely, the flash unit can be coupled to and removed from the earphone jack provided in the mobile communication terminal. The terminal is designed so that the flash unit coupled to the terminal may be charged from the power source incorporated in the terminal via the earphone jack. The flash unit can emit light the moment the user depresses the shutter button provided on the mobile communication terminal. Thus, the flash unit serves to achieve flash photographing whenever desired, while coupled to the mobile communication terminal. The terminal can therefore provide high-quality photographs even at night or in dark rooms, and the like. The mobile communication terminal is, however, disadvantageous in the following respect.
As in most mobile communication terminals, an audio path can be automatically switched in the terminal, from the microphone and the speaker to the earphone jack, when an earphone plug is inserted into the earphone jack. If the flash unit is left coupled to the earphone jack, the microphone and the speaker remain disconnected from the audio path. In this condition, the user cannot make an outgoing call or respond to an incoming call if any.
An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile communication terminal in which a microphone and a speaker can operate even if a flash unit remains coupled to the mobile communication terminal.
In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the invention, in a mobile communication terminal which determines whether an external unit is connected to an earphone jack and whether the external unit, if connected to the earphone jack, is an earphone unit or an electronic flash unit. If the external unit connected to the earphone jack is the electronic flash unit, an audio path for transmitting audio signals will be connected to the microphone and speaker that are provided in the terminal.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.